Ezekiel blake



iuied tsirt A EZEKIEL BLAKE, CHICOPEE FALLS, BASSACHUSVE'IT'IS-.

faam raam No. 89,548, das@ May 4,1869. 7

IMPROVMJENT SPINDLE-STEP IR SPINNING-NAMES.

To all whom; tt may concern: Y

Be it known that I, EznK1nn'Br.AKn,'of Chcopee Falls, in the county ofHampden, and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented a new andimproved Spindle-Step; and I do hereby declare that the following is afull, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation ol'the same, reference being had to the accompanying `drawings, making apart of this specification, and to the letters and gures of referencemarked thereon, in which Figure 1 is an elevation of said spindle-step,having the foot of a spindle set therein, and the whole shown as set inthe rail of an ordinary spinning-frame;

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view, the plane of transverse sectionbeing indicated by the line Z Z in Figure 3 is an elevation of the cap,which forms the step itself, the cover being removed, and the wholebeing taken out of the rail, in which it rests when in use;

Figure 4 is a vertical axial section through the line z z, fig. 3; and

rigore 5 is afvemeariial sentieri tnrssgnt'nemp, f

which rests uponv the upper part of. the step, and closely encircles thespindle.

All the aforesaid drawings are full size, and repre-Y sent the step,rail, and spindle, of the size actually employed inmanuihctuling-operations.

My invention is designed to be employed upon ringspinning frames, andmayalso be employed in mulespinning. p

The high rate of speed at which cotton-spindles are drivenfrom three tofive thousandv revolutions per minute-makes it absolutely necessary thatthe foot of the vertical spindle, and the socket or step in which itturns as a bearing, should be constantly and thoroughly lubricated andthe great friction developed in a dry step, under the high speed, veryspeedily wears the step so as to render it.useless.

The steps in common use, for the most part, require oiling daily, or atintervals of a very few days, and at the expense of much oil and labor,and of the frequent stoppage of the spinning-machinery, while myinvention is designed to be run for several months with a single oiling,such oiling being readily and expeditiously performed.

It has also been estimated that the waste of oil by and by loss from oilthrown out of the step, amounts to about five-sixths of the whole amountof oil applied, leaving but a single sixth to be utilized ln overcomingthe friction of the step and spindle, nearly all of which waste isprevented by the operation of my invention, an important gain, not onlyin an economical point of view, butin point of cleanliness, and also inlessening the liability l to lires from oilsoaked lioors.

A csp is also added to the spindle-step, not to prevent the escupe ofoil, which is otherwise provided for, but to keep the cotton-waste,dust, and other foreign matter from getting into the step.

frequent oihugs,

Irim, al a?, which serves :the socket, which opens into This cup, andthe upper part of the step, I so shape,

relatively to one another, that the former alwayes ht tightly upon thelatter, and always drops into the right position upon the step.

he'cap, therefore, is not supported upon the spindles-nd revolved withit, as iu many covered spindle- I steps, but the stem of thespindlepasses down through a cylindrical opening in the top of the cap,which opening is made just large enough'to allow the spindle- Y stem toturn within it.

The construction of my invention is as follows:

S represents a portion of the rail of a spinning-frame, inwhich is theusual cylindrical opening, H, to receive a spindle-step, ranged in aline along the rail, and held in place by set-screws s. f

1n the ordinary spindle-steps, without a collar at the upper end, suchset-screws are necessary to prevent the step from dropping through therail, but `are not absolutely necessary with steps such as shown in thedrawings.

The step itself, A, dricai portion, b, of

is composed of a straight cyliuthe usual diameter of ordinary stepsandaneenlarged portion,- a/,tlaeoutside of -whie is slightly tapering orconi l, so as to make a close lit with the cap, which shuts-down overit.

The enlargement of but serves a more important purpose in aiording roomwithin the step for a capacious oil-chamber, above the top of the rail,and extending up the spindle vhigher rises, thus affording a V than vthewhole step generally much longer socket than usual ber for the foot ofthe spindle.

The space which the enlarged portion a occupies above the rail is notuseful for any other purpose, and

beneath the oil-chamis not occupied at all when the ordiuarysteps areused with their tops risingljust out of the rail.

A thin rim, j' f, projecting inward, eucircls the spindle, so as toclose the top of the cup when the spindle is in place, and prevents theyoil from spurting upward when the spindle is dropped into its seatalter.

doing.

The upper side of the rim is made slightly concave or dishing, so thatany oil which may follow up on the spindle when in moton, will be guidedback into the oil-chamber when the spindle is still.

The angular bottom, e, of the socket is of the ordinary form, and at theusual depth below the top of the rail; f

Above this is the straight cylindrical portion, E', of the roomyoil-chamber E, the shape of which is plainly shown in gs. 2 and 4.

It will be observed that by carrying up the step above' the rail, so asto bring the whole oil-chamber above the top of the rail, the straightpassage E' can be much elongated, thus aording a much longer bearing,and keeping the spindle more accurately in its proper vertical position.i The spindle is of the ordinary form, having the conicalV foot e'fitting th'e angular' seat e, the straight cylinthe upper part of Aforms a' to support the step in the rail,

there being many of these steps arl drical portion B' nearly lilling thepart E of the socket,

and a swell at the upper part of the oil-chamber, ending in thefull-sized spindle-stem B, above the swell.

It is desirable that the upper edge 'i i ofthe swelled part shall fall alittle below the lim f f, so that the oil will be deflected from theannular space between the rim ff and the spindle B. The inner sides ofthc cap O are made slightly flaring, so as to correspond with the taperof the sides a* a2 of the step; and a circular opening, c, is made inthe top of C, which is closely fitted by the stem B of the spindle. I ly If the conical form of the outside of the enlarged part-a of the step,and the inner side of the cap C, have the same axis as the step A, thenthe cap will always settle down evenly upon a, and the opening c, in-thetop of the cap will be in correct position to receive the verticalspindle B, without binding or crowding it, and make nearly an air-tightjoint about the top of A.

The step A and the cap 0 may be made of .brass, iron, or other metal,which will withstand the r wear of `the foot of the spindle.

- The operation of my invention is' as follows:

The step being set in its socket in the rail, and the spindle standingwithin it, the cap C is lifted off from the step, and the spindle raiseda fraction of an inch, say one-fourth, so as to bring the smaller part,B', of the spindle above the rimf f. There will then be space to insertthe nose of an oil-can between the spindle B and the rim f f, and ll ornearly lill the empty space in E E' ande with oil. The spindle can thenbeI dropped back into its seat, and the cap O replaced upon A. A slightpressure will make the liaring cap fit very tightly upon A, while therounded form ofthe outside of O allows nb waste or threads to catch'andwind up around the cap.

At the very high speed at which such spindles revolve, as beforespecilied, the centrifugal force repels the oil from the spindle, andpiles it up against the sides of the oil-chamber E, the rim f fpreventing it from running upward ont of the chamber. When the spindleis stopped, the oil will run back about the spindle, penetrating downinto the foot e and straight part E' of the step.

By comparative tests, vit 1s estimated that the supchambers of limitedcapacity, and made withoutv any enlargement of the step, and below thetop of the mil,

the employment of a cap with a spindle-step; but I limit my claims ofinvention to the following-described matters .and things, which I claimas new, and desire to' secure by Letters Patent, viz: v

The spindle-step A, having the portion a elongated and enlarged, andhaving the seat ao-chamber E, and rim f formed therein, in combinationwith the cap thereof` conical in section to lit the tapering sides a* azof the step, all constructedand arranged substantially as setfort ABLAKE.

Witnesses:

J. P. BUGKLAND, L. BUGKLAND.

ply of oil which can be carried `in the oil-chamber-E,

increased capacity of the chamber, inasmuch as such are in common use.Nor do I broadly claim as new Y C, having the central opening c, and theinner sides

